A Little Craziness
by Kierielle Huntington
Summary: The Hardy Boys help Nancy watch her energetic younger cousins and Nancy finds that sometimes a little craziness is good. Oneshot.


**A/N:** Since this piece guest stars two of the Bobbsey Twins and is more on the humorous side, I thought it belonged as its own oneshot rather than part of _Foolhardy._ Let me know if you enjoy! :)

 _{You know the drill; I don't own anyone from the Stratemeyer Syndicate. ;) }_

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A Little Craziness

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"You weren't kidding," Frank agreed grimly.

"I told you it was a disaster!" Nancy lightly smacked her forehead. "My cousins are wild - I can't control them!"

Her little cousins Freddie and Flossie were staying the whole weekend and she was already overwhelmed.

"You can't control kids, Nancy. You're such an only child," Joe laughed. "Could you 'control' me, big bro?" he asked, slapping Frank's shoulder.

"Um, I assume that's a rhetorical question," Frank said as Freddie shot a Nerf dart straight through his heart. Or...straight _at_ his heart, since, of course, it was a Nerf dart and it bounced right off of Frank's chest rather than piercing it.

"Gotcha!" Freddie yelled, pumping his fist in victory. Flossie let out a drawn-out gasp.

Joe shot his older brother an expectant look, and Nancy watched with the bewildered amusement of one who has grown up without a sibling as Frank gave a loud, exaggerated groan and sank to his knees.

"Oh," the elder Hardy boy moaned. "Why would you shoot an unarmed man?"

"I don't think you'd be able to talk if - " Nancy began, but Joe lightly elbowed her and gave her a highly disapproving eyebrow raise.

"Are you going to answer him, coward?" Joe asked Freddie, while Frank crumpled onto the hardwood, breathing dramatically.

Nancy had never seen this side of them.

"I don't like how he was looking at my cousin," Freddie shot back at Joe, happily playing along.

Nancy blushed, then rolled her eyes. Maybe she should have called Bess and George for backup instead of the Hardys.

"That doesn't give you an excuse for murdering him!" Joe cried animatedly. He snatched up a Nerf gun from the floor and brandished it. "I will have satisfaction for what you did to my brother!"

Flossie knelt by Frank and shook his side. "Are you okay?" she whispered loudly. Frank cupped her cheek and nodded, then went limp and closed his eyes.

Nancy was keenly aware that she was jealous of her _six-year-old_ cousin. "Goodness, Drew," she chided herself.

But Frank all crumpled on the floor _was_ slightly - no. No, no, _no._

It was not attractive.

Definitely not.

Not attractive at all, and it certainly didn't make her want to throw her arms around him and _nope._

"Will you take the challenge?!" Joe gestured with the Nerf gun.

"Aye," Freddie said solemnly, before a devious smile lit up his face and he shot Frank once more, this time less well-aimed. The foam bullet ricocheted off Frank's thigh. Frank groaned.

"How _dare_ you!" Joe cried, a beautiful smile lighting up his face. Nancy buried her face in her hands.

What childishness.

She looked up in time to see Flossie kiss Frank's forehead.

Something throbbed deep inside her and she looked away. The thought occurred to Nancy that she shouldn't be judging their childishness when she couldn't watch her _six-year-old_ cousin kiss Frank's _forehead._

Joe tossed the Nerf gun onto the sofa and tackled Freddie, tickling him under the armpits. "How _dare_ you kill my bother again after you've already killed him!"

"We have to duel!" Freddie shrieked between tickle-induced laughter. "If you fight fair! No tickling!"

"Fine," Joe said grandly, releasing him. "We will duel fairly, although you certainly didn't fight fair when you shot Frank, you dishonorable - "

"Ummm," Nancy interjected. "Is that safe?" Joe was an amazing shot, and Freddie was, well, six.

Joe looked at her, concerned. "You _have_ played with Nerf guns, right, Nance?"

"Um...no," she admitted.

Joe's jaw dropped. "Brother, for all her nice things and nice house and nice car, Nancy grew up majorly deprived."

Frank finally propped himself up from his "dead" state. "You're right," he said, his tone completely serious and his eyes mirthful. "But I think we can fix that hole in Nancy's life with relative ease."

Nancy found herself staring down the barrels of three Nerf guns, Joe offering her a fourth. "Where are all these Nerf guns _coming_ from?" she asked, taking the offering. "Aunt Mary only brought two."

"Errr...I definitely didn't bring our old collection," said Joe.

Nancy looked at Frank, who was still propped up on his elbows.

Frank shrugged, smirking a little. "Definitely not."

Frank was _smirking._

"Okay, Joe and I will duel," Freddie declared, "and the winner will pick for his team first." He looked up at Joe. "Is that fair?"

"Yep," Joe assured him, smiling mischievously.

Nancy was only now struck by how good - no, amazing - the Hardys were with kids. She wondered how she hadn't noticed sooner.

They dueled.

Nancy got picked first round.

And as it turned out, it was a blast.

Late that evening - after Freddie and Flossie had been tucked into bed and Joe, exhausted from fighting a lifetime's worth of duels in a single evening, had fallen asleep on the living room rug - Nancy and Frank sat side by side on the couch, each nursing a mug of hot coffee.

It was so peaceful and relaxing after the wildness.

"So," Frank said, nudging her. "Sometimes a little craziness isn't such a bad thing, hmm?"

It was a statement, not a question, and Nancy made a face.

But then she laughed, in spite of herself. "I suppose you're right. And thank you for helping me." She glanced at Joe, sprawled on the floor. "You both were incredible." She leaned over and kissed Frank's cheek.

Frank just smiled and took another sip of coffee.

"You can't control everything, Nancy. And you know what? That's a good thing."

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Let me know if you enjoyed it! ;)


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